Examines issues relating to similarity neighborhoods of words in children's lexicons. Young children's receptive vocabularies were analyzed for three-phoneme, four-phoneme and five-phoneme words. The pattern of the original results from Charles-Luce & Luce (1990) was replicated. (18 references) (Author/CK)

Investigates word meaning constructions of four middle-school learners during self-selected reading events where learners targeted unfamiliar words. Explores learner perceptions about vocabulary acquisition. Finds learners used multiple strategies in single encounters with new words, were not inhibited by inaccurate word meaning constructions,…

A study examined the invented spelling abilities demonstrated by hearing, hard of hearing, or deaf kindergarten and first-grade students. The students with deafness outperformed hearing students in two areas: concept of word and word recognition and performed less well on phoneme awareness. Spelling patterns differed between the two groups.…

What is the role of oral language in reading competence during the transition to school? Is oral language in preschool best conceptualized as vocabulary knowledge or as more comprehensive language including grammar, vocabulary, and semantics? These questions were examined longitudinally using 1,137 children from the National Institute of Child…

The importance of context in vocabulary learning is evident from two common-sense observations: what a word means often depends on the context in which it is used, and people pick up much of their vocabulary knowledge from context, apart from explicit instruction. Available evidence supports a relatively strong version of each of these…

COMPETENT LITERACY EDUCATION INVOLVES THE CONTINUOUS DIAGNOSIS AND CORRECTION OF DEFICIENCIES. THROUGH FORMAL AND INFORMAL DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURES AND OBSERVATION, TEACHERS LOCATE SPECIFIC NEEDS AND DEFECTS AND THEN APPLY SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES TO MEET THOSE NEEDS AND CORRECT OR WORK AROUND THOSE DEFECTS. TO HELP TEACHERS LOCATE TECHNIQUES APPROPRIATE…

To examine the relationship between the vocabulary teachers use in the classroom and the percentage of that vocabulary understood by the students, 16 volunteer teachers were tape recorded for an hour and a half during a normal day's activities. Half the teachers were from lower or lower middle class families; the other half were from middle and…

This curriculum guide is intended to assist Latin teachers in the School District of Philadelphia in achieving one of the goals of Latin instruction: the development of word power in English through a structured study of Latin roots and affixes. The guide may be used in two different ways. First, it may form the basis for a separate…

This paper identifies and discusses the factors to be considered in selecting the words for beginning reading instruction. Vocabularies for beginning reading are based on the child's oral language, the child's interests, sound-letter regularity, and common words as found in written literature. In addition, there must be a balance among the various…

This book is designed to provide teachers with the information necessary to help their students to cope successfully and independently with unfamiliar words. Three sources of aid in word identification are discussed, to provide a balance to the current overemphasis on phonics decoding as the only way for children to identify words. The three areas…

Notes two trends in the development of basal-related software and describes the Scott, Foresman Reading Courseware and the Ginn Reading Software. (JC)

Compares the vocabulary learning effectiveness of the mnemonic keyword method and two semantic-based approaches (semantic mapping and contextual analysis). Concludes, among other things, that the keyword method is superior to the other two strategies with respect to students' ability to recall word definitions. (FL)

Describes the development of a 99-word multiple meaning word list and offers activities designed to develop children's knowledge of multiple meaning words. (FL)

Compares the effectiveness of two types of classroom vocabulary instruction with a noninstruction type homework assignment. (FL)

Misspellings by first through fifth grade students were classified as to probable underlying spelling strategies. An overall shift strategy from sound to print was reflected in fifth grade errors independent of word difficulty. (FL)